This invention relates to beer containers and particularly to containers for rapidly dispensing beer in commercial establishments or at sporting and social events.
Beer is presently supplied to commercial establishments or for special events in stainless steel kegs. These are of sturdy welded stainless steel construction and are fitted with a dispensing spear structure comprising a long stainless steel dispenser tube through which to dispense beer from the bottom of the keg and a pressurising valve through which to supply pressurising CO2 gas into the keg so as to pressurise the contents and force the beer out through the dispensing tube when a dispensing valve is operated.
Stainless steel beer kegs are very expensive to produce and they are designed to be returned to the brewery for cleaning and refilling. They will typically be the property of the brewery which may accordingly need to have large sums of capital committed to maintaining appropriate stocks of kegs. Large sums can be lost if kegs are not returned. This problem could be largely overcome if it were possible to supply beer in bulk in low cost disposable dispensing containers, but no satisfactory containers for this purpose have hitherto been available.
Plastics technology has been applied to the manufacture of disposable beverage containers in small sizes, such as soft drink and beer bottles. These have generally been blow moulded in PET (polyethylene terephthalate), but it has not been possible to apply this technology to the production of larger size dispensing containers because of the barrier properties of PET in large size containers and the problem of producing a construction which allows effective recycling of all of the materials required for the dispensing components of a workable container. The present invention overcomes these problems by providing a multi-component container in which all components may be fully recyclable.
According to the invention, there is provided a beer container comprising:
an inner hollow shell of blow moulded PET to hold beer;
an outer hollow shell of moulded high density polyethylene closing and supporting the inner shell; and
a spear structure including a dispenser tube extending from a bottom interior region of the inner shell through to a dispensing outlet at the top of the outer shell.
Preferably, the spear structure in fixed to the inner shell and is constructed of PET.
The spear structure may incorporate a valve for supply of pressurising CO2 gas into the interior of the inner shell and a beer dispenser valve At the dispensing outlet, both valves being moulded in PET.
Preferably, the outer shell is formed in separable pieces which can be separated from the inner shell for recycling of the high density polyethylene of the outer shell separately from the PET material of the inner shell and the spear.
The outer shell may, for example, be comprised of a generally open topped tub-shaped body fitted with a releasable lid. The lid may be a snap fit on the tub shaped body.
Preferably, the inner shell is a sliding fit within the tub shaped main body of the outer shell, whereby it can be slid from the outer shell main body when the lid is removed.
The peripheral wall of the outer shell may be formed with a series of circumferentially spaced, inwardly projecting ribs to engage the inner shell at circumferentially spaced locations to provide the sliding fit of the inner shell within the outer shell.
Alternatively, the outer shell may have a plain cylindrical peripheral surface within which the outer shell is a neat sliding fit.